3. _Responsibility of making thoughtful decisions._ As we proceed I cannot quote a lot of Scripture tonight, for the mere reason that I’m talking about the sphere in which God has not given specific instructions. That’s where the leadership of the church comes in. In this sphere the overseers of the church have a great responsibility. Oh, I could spend two or three hours reciting Scriptures and discussing the qualifications and work of elders. But it’s not our purpose to discuss that field at this time. We are discussing the sphere, mentioned in the lesson this morning, where God has given only general instructions.[4] Why, friends, where God has given _specific_ instructions the overseers don’t have to make any decisions. They simply follow the directions given. It’s just exactly in the realm where specific instructions have not been given that the overseers are called upon to make decisions of their own. Where God has specified, they have very little responsibility. They have no responsibility in making decisions for God has already made the decisions. But there are a thousand questions that God has not answered specifically. Just to mention a few, He doesn’t tell us what kind of song books to use. He didn’t tell you how big to make this house, or how many windows to put in each wall. He doesn’t tell you how many meetings to have each week. He doesn’t tell you how often you should have a protracted meeting, or how many classes to have on Lord’s day morning, or how you should arrange your missionary program, how many preachers you should employ and what part of each one’s support you should furnish. A hundred other questions could be mentioned, which God has not specifically answered. And, therefore, the elders, the overseers, in every congregation, must make decisions for themselves in reference to these things. Please don’t think that I’m going to tell you the answer to these questions, for if I were to do so, then I would be making specifications where God has made none, and, therefore, going beyond that which is written. But the one thing I do want to do tonight is to insist that a great deal of thought and study be given to all such matters and that instead of making decisions on them recklessly or thoughtlessly or without proper meditation and study, the very opposite should be the case. All such questions, even though they may appear to be insignificant in their nature, should be weighed very carefully. For, if there is any field of work in all this world in which we want to do our very best, it is in the work of the Lord; and be it ever so good in the past, we want to make it better in the future; for God expects us to grow in His work, and to become better and better as the days go by. So the one point that I’m emphasizing most of all is that in _all these decisions a great deal of study, thought, and prayer should be used_.